Investigation of promoter methylation patterns association with genes expression profile of ISL1, MGMT and DMNT3b in tissue of breast cancer patients.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Cancer initiation and progression could influenced by both genetic and epigenetic events revealing of the overlap between epigenetic and genetic alteration can give important insights into cancer biology. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this experiment ISL1, MGMT, DMNT3b genes were candidate to investigate both methylation status and expression profile by using methylation-specific PCR and real time PCR in 40 breast cancer patients, respectively, also we have assessed relation of the promoter methylation status and expression variation of the target genes. The mean level of methylation of ISL1 and MGMT in tumor tissues were significantly greater than normal tissues. In Contrast, DMNT3b gene was showed lower mean level of methylation in tumor tissue compared to normal tissues, however, this was not statistically significant. Relative expression analysis was displayed a significant reduction in expression level of ISL1 and MGMT in tumor tissues. Furthermore, there was a meaningful association between down expression of ISL1 with histological grade, Her2 and ER status. Moreover, MGMT down expression was significantly associated with tumor sizes. Any remarkable relation was not observed between DMNT3b expression level and clinic pathological features. At the end, significant relation between methylation status and expression level has been revealed. CONCLUSIONS: In this study all observed results were exactly in line with the results were obtained from articles which were based on the methylation research and illustrate that the real-time PCR and methylation methods are in correlated with each other, furthermore, selected genes are capable to use as a potential biomarkers, however, more research on extended cases are needed.

Capability of novel fluorescence DNA-conjugated CdTe/ZnS quantum dots nanoprobe for COVID-19 sensing.

Urgent identification of COVID-19 in infected patients is highly important nowadays. Förster or fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a powerful and sensitive method for nanosensing applications, and quantum dots are essential materials in FRET-based nanosensors. The QDs are conjugated to DNA or RNA and used in many applications. Therefore, in the present study, novel fluorescence DNA-conjugated CdTe/ZnS quantum dots nanoprobe designed for detection of Covid-19 after extracting their RNA from saliva of hesitant people. For achieving this purpose, the water-soluble CdTe/ZnS QDs-DNA prepared via replacing the thioglycolic acid (TGA) on the surface of QDs with capture DNA (thiolated DNA) throw a ligand-exchange method. Subsequently, by adding the different concentrations of complementary (target DNA) in a mixture of quencher DNA (BHQ2-labeled DNA) and the QDs-DNA conjugates at different conditions, sandwiched hybrids were formed. The results showed that the fluorescence intensity was decreased with increasing the concentration of target DNA (as a positive control). The linear equation and regression (Y = 40.302 X  + 1 and R2 = 0.98) were obtained by using the Stern-Volmer relationship. The Limit of detection (LOD) was determined 0.000823 µM. The achieved results well confirm the outcomes of the RT-PCR method in real samples.

Emerging role of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs)-derived exosome in neurodegeneration-associated conditions: a groundbreaking cell-free approach.

Accumulating proofs signify that pleiotropic effects of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are not allied to their differentiation competencies but rather are mediated mainly by the releases of soluble paracrine mediators, making them a reasonable therapeutic option to enable damaged tissue repair. Due to their unique immunomodulatory and regenerative attributes, the MSC-derived exosomes hold great potential to treat neurodegeneration-associated neurological diseases. Exosome treatment circumvents drawbacks regarding the direct administration of MSCs, such as tumor formation or reduced infiltration and migration to brain tissue. Noteworthy, MSCs-derived exosomes can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and then efficiently deliver their cargo (e.g., protein, miRNAs, lipid, and mRNA) to damaged brain tissue. These biomolecules influence various biological processes (e.g., survival, proliferation, migration, etc.) in neurons, oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes. Various studies have shown that the systemic or local administration of MSCs-derived exosome could lead to the favored outcome in animals with neurodegeneration-associated disease mainly by supporting BBB integrity, eliciting pro-angiogenic effects, attenuating neuroinflammation, and promoting neurogenesis in vivo. In the present review, we will deliver an overview of the therapeutic benefits of MSCs-derived exosome therapy to ameliorate the pathological symptoms of acute and chronic neurodegenerative disease. Also, the underlying mechanism behind these favored effects has been elucidated.

Study on SARS-CoV-2 strains in Iran reveals potential contribution of co-infection with and recombination between different strains to the emergence of new strains.

We aimed to describe SARS-CoV-2 strains in Iranians from nine distributed cities infected during two months expanding late 2020 and early 2021 by genotyping known informative single nucleotide in five PCR amplicons. Two variants associated with haplotype H1 (clade G) and nine additional variants associated with other haplotypes were genotyped, respectively, in RNA isolates of 244 and 85 individuals. The variants associated with the H1a (GR) and H1b (GH) haplotypes were most prevalent, indicating a significant change in infection pattern with passage of time. The most important findings were that recombinant genomes and co-infection, respectively, were surmised in 44.7% and 12.9% of the samples extensively genotyped. Partners of many of the recombinations were relatively common strains. Co-existing viruses were among those currently circulating in Iran. In addition to random mutations, co-infection with different existing strains and recombination between their genomes may significantly contribute to the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 strains.

Ovarian cancer stem cells and targeted therapy.

BACKGROUND: Ovarian cancer has the highest ratio of mortality among gynecologic malignancies. Chemotherapy is one of the most common treatment options for ovarian cancer. However, tumor relapse in patients with advanced tumor stage is still a therapeutic challenge for its clinical management. MAIN BODY: Therefore, it is required to clarify the molecular biology and mechanisms which are involved in chemo resistance to improve the survival rate of ovarian cancer patients. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a sub population of tumor cells which are related to drug resistance and tumor relapse. CONCLUSION: In the present review, we summarized the recent findings about the role of CSCs in tumor relapse and drug resistance among ovarian cancer patients. Moreover, we focused on the targeted and combinational therapeutic methods against the ovarian CSCs.